God of Gamblers
God of Gamblers (Chinese: 賭神; lit. God of Gambling) is a 1989 Hong Kong action comedy-drama film written and directed by Wong Jing, and featuring an all-star cast led by Chow Yun-fat and Andy Lau Plot Ko Chun is a world-famous gambler, so renowned and talented at winning various games of chance that he is referred to as the "God of Gamblers". He keeps his identity secret from the public (and avoids taking photos so his face is not recognised), but is known for three characteristics: his slick-backed hairstyle, his love of Feodora brand chocolate and his jade pinky ring. Ko Chun arrives in Tokyo, accompanied by his girlfriend Janet and his assistant and cousin Ko Yee, for a match with Tanaka, the country's top ranked gambler. After convincingly defeating Tanaka in games of Mahjong and dice, Tanaka concedes defeat and asserts that Ko Chun "really is God". Tanaka asks Chun to help him take revenge on Chan Kam-Sing, a famous Singaporean gambler who cheated Tanaka's father (driving him to suicide), by besting Chan in a high-stakes poker match. Ko Chun agrees, merely asking for a box of chocolate as payment. In gratitude, Tanaka sends his bodyguard, former Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces Operative Dragon to accompany Ko Chun for protection. Meanwhile, Little Knife, an avid but mediocre gambler who idolises the God of Gamblers, sets a trap for an Indian neighbour as a practical joke. After a confrontation on a train between Ko Chun, Dragon, and henchmen sent by one of Ko Chun's rivals, Ko happens to accidentally stumble into Knife's trap. Ko falls down a hill, hitting his head, and subsequently suffers from amnesia and regresses to a childlike state. Knife, not knowing who the unnamed stranger is, takes him in and names him "Chocolate" due to the man's seemingly obsessive love for the candy. Initially Knife is impatient with "Chocolate"'s simple-minded innocence and yells at him often, but soon recognises that "Chocolate" has innate gambling talent and begins to exploit his abilities in local poker games and gambling dens. As time passes, Knife comes to care for "Chocolate" and seeks to find a way to restore his memory. Back at Ko Chun's mansion, it is revealed that Janet has been searching for Chun for ten days to no avail. Ko Yee, who is jealous of Chun's success and wealth, makes advances on her, which she rejects; finally, while attempting to rape her, Yee accidentally knocks Janet off the balcony, killing her. He discovers that she has been recording what has been transpiring and proceeds to burn the tape. Later, Yee allies himself with Chan Kam-Sing and Ko Chun's other rival and they send assassins to find and kill Chun. Eventually, the assassins find Chun, Knife, and their friends and attempt to kill them, but Dragon arrives to protect them after tracking Chun down. A fierce shootout ensues in a shopping center, in which Knife saves Chun from an attempt on his life by Ko Yee. During the fight, Dragon is wounded, causing Chun to snap out of his child persona briefly to kill the rest of the assailants. However, after regressing back to his childlike state, Chun becomes horrified at the carnage and runs out into the street where he is struck by a vehicle. Chun awakens in the hospital with his regular persona, but no memory of the events or people he met after the fight. He is informed by Ko Yee, who is feigning loyalty, that Janet has disappeared. Knife arrives and attempts to warn Chun of Ko Yee's treachery but Yee has Knife thrown out. Ko Yee conspires with Chan Kam-Sing Later, Ko Yee meets Chan Kam-Sing to plan for defeating the God of Gamblers. While reviewing with Nam the game-sessions of Ko-Chun, Chan Kam-Sing shares with Nam that he has learned from Ko Yee about Ko-Chun's alleged weakness: Allegedly Ko-Chun always subconsciously rubs his jade ring during bluff attempt. Chan Kam-Sing adds how he had witnessed such "very bad habit" at one time during Ko-Chun's "500 Cards" game-session. Thus, Chan Kam-Sing intends to utilize this supposed weakness in order to outsmart Ko-Chun. Furthermore in the preparation, Ko Yee gives Chan Kam-Sing special eyeglasses that will allow him to cheat during his upcoming poker match with Ko-Chun by reading invisible markings on the cards: 1 dot for Ace, 2 dots for King, 3 dots for Queen, a line for Jack. The Final Match Ko-Chun, Yee, Tanaka and Dragon arrive on Chan Kam-Sing's yacht for the climactic game of five card stud. Knife, having sneaked onto the boat, again attempts to warn Ko-Chun of the danger he is in. Ko-Chun agrees to hear Knife out later but admonishes him not to interfere with the poker game. In the first round, Ko-Chun draws 6♦ and holds A_ (of an unknown suit), Chan Kam-Sing J♠ and J♥; By wearing the special eyeglasses, Chan Kam-Sing finds out, that Ko-Chun holds A_. Then, Ko-Chun draws A♥, Chan Kam-Sing 7♥. Knowing that Ko-Chun has a potentially stronger hand, Chan Kam-Sing decides to muck his cards, thus Chan Kam-Sing loses early in the round and minimizes his loss. Entering the second round, Ko-Chun draws K♥/9♥/8♥/7♥ and holds an unknown card, Chan Kam-Sing 3♥/7♣/7♦/Q♣ and Q♠. Upon showdown, Ko-Chun bluffs Chan Kam-Sing of having a 'Flush' (i.e. holding either 10_ or Q_), while rubbing his jade ring. Chan Kam-Sing notices the rubbing and reads the invisible mark of 2 dots (presumably a 'K'), easily concluding that Ko-Chun has a weaker hand, so he does not get bluffed by Ko-Chun and by drawing a Q♠ wins the game with 'Two Pair'. Ko-Chun mucks his cards and loses most of Tanaka's money. Coming into the third deciding round, while both players each receive 2 own cards, Chan Kam-Sing failed to timely read the invisible mark of Ko-Chun's closed card, as Ko-Chun skillfully stacks it with his open card A♠. Ko-Chun draws A♠/A♣. Chan Kam-Sing draws Q♠/Q♥, while holding his closed card Q♣. Ko-Chun draws K♥, Chan Kam-Sing 10♥. Ko-Chun decides to raise the bet and, since he has spent all of Tanaka's money, puts up his entire personal portfolio of wealth and holdings against Chan's wealth. Chan Kam-Sing draws Q_, in total Q♠/Q♥/10♥/Q_; (Movie mistake: He draws Q♣, but he should draw Q♦) He knows, with his closed card Q♣ now he has a very strong hand 'Four of a kind'. Ko-Chun draws A♥, in total A♠/A♣/K♥/A♥. As Ko-Chun slides his A♠ off the closed card thus exposing the closed card, Chan Kam-Sing reads the invisible mark of 2 dots (presumably a 'K'). Chan deduces, that Ko-Chun must have lost with only A♠/A♣/K♥/A♥/K_ (i.e. 'Full House'). Ko-Chun again bluffs Chan Kam-Sing and rubs his jade ring. With a very strong 'Four of a kind' of Q♣/Q♠/Q♥/10♥/Q♦, Chan Kam-Sing shows his cards and gloats over his victory. In turn, Ko-Chun shows his cards and wins with an even stronger 'Four of a kind' of A♦/A♠/A♣/K♥/A♥. Ko-Chun then reveals, that he uses special contact lenses superior to Chan Kam-Sing's special eyeglasses in order to track the cards, and that he has somehow sometime added another dot onto the card 'A♦' in order to outsmart Chan Kam-Sing, and that his ring-rubbing action is not at all a subconscious habit but instead an intentional decoy. Subsequently, Ko Chun tricks Chan Kam-Sing into shooting Ko Yee. As Yee lays dying, Chun drops Janet's tape (which actually never finished burning) onto his body. Ko Chun then departs (as police arrive to take Chan into custody for murder) without speaking to Knife, much to the latter's dismay. Ko Chun later surprises Knife at his home and reveals that he remembered Knife in the hospital and knew about Ko Yee's betrayal all along, but had to feign ignorance to execute his plan properly. He promises to make it up to Knife by taking him to Las Vegas as his gambling partner. Cast * Chow Yun-fat as (高進/賭神) Ko Chun / The God of Gamblers / Chocolate (nickname given to him when he loses his memory) * Andy Lau as (陳刀仔) Michael Chan/ Little Knife / Dagger * Joey Wong as (珍) Jane/Jen * Sharla Cheung as Janet * Charles Heung as (龍五) Lung Wu/Dragon (once served in special force under Nguyễn Văn Thiệu) * Ng Man-tat as (花口成) Brother Shing * Jimmy Lung Fong as (高義) Ko Yee * Michiko Nishiwaki as Miss Chi, Ko Chun's female Yakuza opponent * Wong Jing as Whoremonger in love motel (cameo) * Shing Fui-On as (大口九) Big Mouth * Michael Chow as Casino manager * Pau Hon-lam as (陳金城) Chan Kam-sing * Dennis Chan as Doctor Toneg Wong * Chan Lap-ban as Michael's grandmother * Law Ching-ho as Motel manager * Yasuyoshi Shikamura as (上山宏次) Ueyama Koji * Ronald Wong as (烏鴉) Crow * Wong San as Jane's father * Yeung Chak-lam as (南哥) Nam * Seung-koon Yuk as Jane's mother Sequels, spin-off The success of the film spawned many parodies and spin-offs such as All for the Winner starring Stephen Chow. Several more comedy-driven sequels also starring Stephen Chow were released, as well as a sequel where Chow Yun-Fat reprises his role as Ko Chun. God of Gamblers series: * God of Gamblers (1989) * God of Gamblers II (1990) – This film continues where the original God of Gamblers storyline left off. This time, Andy Lau's character teams up with Stephen Chow's character from All for the Winner. Chow Yun-fat did not return for this film, but his God of Gambler character did show up for a brief cameo appearance using archive footage. * God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai * God of Gamblers Returns (1994) – Also released under the name God of Gamblers 2 (but not God of Gamblers II) this is the 'true' sequel to the original God of Gamblers film, with Chow Yun-fat back to reprise his role as the God of Gamblers. * God of Gamblers 3: The Early Stage (1997) – A successful prequel of the original God of Gamblers, starring Leon Lai as Ko Chun. It may be assumed that this is a reboot to the God of Gamblers series because of the inconsistencies with the previously established story of God of Gamblers e.g. Ko Chun and his bodyguard, meet for the very first time in the first film and therefore should not know each other in this prequel. * From Vegas to Macau (2014) - This film once again stars Chow Yun-fat as a gifted gambler, though his character and the film's plot is unrelated to the God of Gamblers series. However, Chow (in a dual role) makes a cameo appearance as the original God of Gamblers, Ko Chun, at the end of the film. The film also ends with a remixed version of the original God of Gamblers theme music. * From Vegas to Macau II (2015) - Chow Yun-fat returns as the gifted gambler, Ken. The film's plot is, again, unrelated to the God of Gamblers series. The film also ends with a remixed version of the original God of Gamblers theme music as Chow (in a dual role) makes a cameo appearance as the original God of Gamblers, Ko Chun at the end of the film. Andy Lau also makes a cameo appearance and reprises his role in the original God of Gamblers as Little Knife. Spin-offs: * All for the Winner (1990) – Stephen Chow is the Saint of Gamblers in this popular God of Gamblers parody. * The Top Bet (1991) – This is a spin-off of All for the Winner, with only several characters from the original reprising their role. Stephen Chow did, however, make a cameo appearance in this spin-off. The film starsAnita Mui and Carol Cheng. * Fist of Fury 1991 (1991) – Stephen Chow's Saint of Gamblers character does a brief cameo appearance at the start of this film. * Fist of Fury 1991 II (1992) – Sequel to the first movie. The plot continues where Fist of Fury 1991 ended. * Fight Back to School (1991) - A policeman enters a school to find his captens gun, not a real spin-off of the God of Gamblers series except the main characters are played by the same actor duo as in All for the Winner. * Fight Back to School 2 - Sequel to the Fight Back to School movie. * Fight Back to School 3 (1993) – Stephen Chow's character visits Mr. Hung, the 'King of Gamblers' from All for the Winner to gain some gambling tips. * Saint of Gamblers (1996) – A spin-off of the All for the Winner series, with only Ng Man-tat reprising his role. * My Wife is a Gambling Maestro (2008) – A parody of the first film directed by Wong Jing, but with a completely different cast and a romantic comedy plotline